Customer Reviews

The Man in the Blizzard: A Novel

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All things considered, I found this to be a great book. It was entertaining, evocative and brought to life a quirky character much like Block's Rhodenbarr or Monk. If you like slightly flawed anti-hero "defective detectives", this book will delight you.

If you prefer shallow unrealistic caricatures such as the lead schmuck on "24" and can't get past political views unlike your own, then you might want to take a pass.

As resident of the area in described in the book, I found the author's descriptions very accurate (except for a possible typo confusing Hwy 10 with Hwy 100) and found his assessments dead-on.

It's always a treat to find a good new author to read and Mr. Schneider is definitely one of those rare finds.

It was this book's hook -- a pot smoking private detective -- that caught my attention. I'd assumed, though, that The Man in the Blizzard was going to be something of a novelty and that, beyond a lead character with an endearing peccadillo, there wasn't going to be much there. Boy, was I wrong.

Actually, Bart Schneider has considerable writing chops. His work is both thoughtful and readable. In Augie Boyer, he has created an engaging protagonist who straddles the indistinct border between hero and anti-hero, much as Parker's Spenser does. (Perhaps it's a reflection of my own sensibilities but Augie's musings on weed are lots more entertaining that Spenser's alcoholic dysfunction.)

There were times when the book's plot struck me as a bit contrived but I seldom come across anything in this genre where that's not the case so it's hard to hold Schneider's feet to the fire in that regard. And the poetry motif, to tell you the truth, was somewhat overdone. Overall, though, my complaints are minor. I'd be delighted if The Man in the Blizzard turned out to be the first in a series of Augie Boyer novels.

The Man In the Blizzard is an indictment of the G.W. Bush Administration, disguised as a crime novel. However, its overall effect is that of theater of the absurd and creates a good foundation for a graphic novel or Monty Python film.

The author portrays Intelligent Design supporters as Nazi child-molesting brainwashers, thieves, and assassins intending to eliminate all Jews. By "believers," the author means "Republicans."

The protagonist, PI Augie Boyer, has allowed himself to become a pathetic middle-ager dependent upon marijuana and testosterone gel, experiencing erections at all inconvenient times. His daughter is a rock star anti-antiabortionist and his wife is pregnant by another man. Meanwhile, his police detective mentor forces all those around him to memorize progressive poetry.

At the Republican National Convention, pro-lifers gather pregnant women outside to deliver infants on Labor Day to support the "Born Free" coalition. The first infant, an illegal alien's child, doesn't count and this is commentary on the supposed Republican enabling of Mexicans sneaking across the U.S. border to work and vote Republican with fake IDs. Meanwhile, rocker Rose Boyer leads a pro-choice rally and is nearly assassinated.

Augie ends the story as many older folks do, with a hip replacement. The only difference is that he was shot rather than injured in a bathtub fall and was made Hero For a Day.

The novel's language is often offensive in obscenity and accusations, but is likely to draw male readers aged 18 to 35. Older gents and some women will chuckle as well. The extreme far-left political force will embrace the book as a symbol of justice and carry it everywhere. Mel Brooks might like to film a farce of it, but the poetry and arts history in the story are very fine.

Proliferation of the F-word in the novel seems calculated as endearing slang from Augie, et al., but it fails. The word invented to create sounds of awkward or violent sex-like that portrayed in low budget pornographic films starring ugly people, is not endearing. Some may still find the word amusing, however.

Armchair Interviews says: For mature audiences.